Page 96 of The Liar

She nodded, obviously pleased. The pieces were coming together nicely. All except…

Shit.

“Portia,” I gasped. “Has there been any sign of her?”

Joanna’s eyes widened, and I could tell that with all the excitement of the past hours, the confidential informant had somehow slipped off her radar too.

But Adam just laughed. “Miss Lowry is safe and sound. She went to ground after one of Ortez’s men tried to abduct her off the street. She lost her phone during the altercation and was afraid to return to any of her usual haunts in case they were waiting for her there, so she slept rough in a homeless encampment and then, when the sun rose, returned to her apartment to find it overrun with police.”

“She’s okay?” I may not know Portia well as a person, but she’d gone above and beyond as an informant, and she’d been a loyal friend to Sasha. That said a lot about her character.

“Fine,” Adam assured me. “Smudged makeup, a bit tired, but unharmed. It seems she can run like a gazelle when she has to.”

I chuckled, my heart lightening. “Of course she can.”

No doubt she’d had to run many times in her life—although probably usuallyfromthe police rather thantothem.

Adam’s expression sobered as his gaze landed on Joanna. “Detectives Lee and Hanson, I’m sorry to be the one to break the news, but Captain Gordon Thackery is one of the names that have come up during the course of our interviews. Captain Thackery has been suspended from the force pending a full investigation.”

“Oh.” Joanna’s face fell. “We knew it was a possibility, but I’d hoped we were being paranoid. Poor Beth. She’ll be distraught.”

I turned my hand over to lace my fingers with hers. “She’ll need a friend.”

She nodded. “I suppose she will. Provided she didn’t know about it.”

Adam laughed heartily. “You don’t have to worry about that. I listened in when they broke the news. She was irate. God, I wouldn’t want that woman on my bad side.” He glanced between us, apparently done dropping bombshells, at least for now. “I’ll leave you to it. But… uh… if you two want to have any personal conversations, you’d better do it soon. You won’t get a moment of rest after this.”

He spun on the heel of his expensive Italian leather boot and sauntered out.

“I hope I never meet that man again,” Joanna said distastefully. “There’s just something about him I don’t like.”

I had to agree with her there. Adam had his moments, but they were few and far between.

“Damn fed,” Hanson cursed.“But Thackery? Really?”

Before anyone could respond, there was a light knock on the door behind us, and then Deborah entered. Her bright blue eyes lit as she broke into a smile.

“Joanna,” she said warmly, rushing toward us and bending to scoop Joanna into a motherly hug.

I got out of the way.

“I can’t thank you enough for saving my Denny,” Deborah said.

Joanna awkwardly patted her back. “He’s tough. He’d have been fine without me.”

Both Hansons scoffed.

Deborah drew back, her hands on Joanna’s shoulders. “Let me cook you dinner later this week so I can thank you properly.”

Joanna softened. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

“Let the girl go, Debs,” Hanson grumbled. “She and herman need to have a conversation before they’re swamped with paperwork.” The sly old dog winked at me. “Better make it a good chat.”

Joanna rose to her feet, and immediately, nerves riddled my gut, and I recalled how anxious I’d been when we’d arrived. Speaking with Adam and Hanson had distracted me, but there was still every possibility that Joanna could leave me in her dust now that my role in our operation was over.

“Take care of him,” Joanna told Deborah. She waved and headed out of the room.

I followed behind, feeling remarkably as if I was marching to my doom. I needed to get ahead of this. I couldn’t take a back seat. There was an unmarked door to our left, so I tried the handle. It opened onto a small storage closet. I grabbed Joanna’s hand and pulled her inside.

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